The Great Canadian Tasting

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Wines tasted as part of the selection process for the Canadian Pacific Luxury Train Excursions that will lead up to & include the Winter Olympics.


13th Street Niagara Ontario
Sumac Ridge Stellars Jay Okanagan BC

Sumac Ridge Gewurztraminer 2007 Okanagan BC
Nichol Vineyards Gewurztraminer 2007 Okangan BC
Henry of Pelham Dry Reisling 2006 Niagara Ontario
13th Street Reisling 2007 Niagara Onatario
Mt. Boucherie Reisling 2007 Okanagan BC
Peninsula Ridge Inox Chardonnay 2007 Niagara Ontario
Peninsula Ridge 2007 Vintners Chardonnay Niagara Ontario
Jackson Triggs Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Okangan BC
Mission Hill SLC Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 200* Okanagan BC
Stratus White 2005 Niagara Ontario
Sumac Ridge White Meritage 2007 Okanagan BC
Mission Hill Perpetua 2006 Okanagan BC

Reds
Mt. Boucherie Pinot Noir 2006 Okanagan BC
Norman Hardy Pinot Noir 2007 Prince Edward County Ontario
Le Vieux Pin Perigee 2006 Okanagan BC
Mission Hill SLC Syrah 2004 Okanagan BC
Poplar Grove Merlot 2005 Okanagan BC
Meglomaniac Big Mouth Merlot 2006
Sumac Ridge Black Sage Cabernet-Merlot 2006 Okanagan BC
Jackson Triggs Shiraz 2006 Okanagan BC
Le vieux Pin Epoque 2006 Okanagan Bc
Jackson Triggs Meritage 2005 Okangan BC
Polar Grove Legacy 2005 Okanagan BC
Osoyoos Larose 2006 Okanagan BC
Mission Hill Quatrain 2004 Okanagan BC
Mission Hill Oculus 2005 Okanagan BC

Dessert Wines
Inniskillin Cabernet Franc Icewine 2007 Ontario
Domaine Pinnacle Sparkling Ice Cider Quebec
Domaine Pinncale Crème de Pommes Quebec
Jackson Triggs Propreitors Reserve Icewine 2007 Okanagan BC

For the past four years I have had the great pleasure of working with the Royal Canadian Pacific Heritage Train as their consulting Wine Director. If you are not familiar with this train it is one of our national historic icons. “THE TRAIN” as I refer to it with a capital “T” is housed beside the Palliser Hotel in downtown Calgary and is made up of 14 plus vintage railcars dating back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. 

I am no history buff but the second you step onboard you are overcome with a distinct sense of history. The Heritage Train runs a variety of scheduled tours through our majestic Rocky Mountians. Trips include Fly Fishing, where to train pulls up to a quiet river and your individual guide floats up to the train to take you to their secret fishing spot, I think you can imagine the splendor, golf, private charters and numerous others. 

Getting back to our tasting, Canadian Pacific Rail is a title sponsor for the upcoming 2010 Olympics. We have been working on the wine list to proudly support our Canadian Wineries as we head to the Olympics.

The train will be at the centre of the Olympics in Vancouver and hosting 7 weeks of events in the Olympic Village.  www.royalcanadianpacific.com

I put out the call to our wine agents that carry Canadian wines so that we could make our selection.

We taste “blind” so that we are not swayed by attractive labels or past memories just the quality in the glass. With over two hundred plus wineries in Canada we obviously did not have every wine but we did taste over 100 selections from across Canada. I arranged the wines into flights of similar wines such as reislings and Sauvignon Blancs, gewurztrainers and viognier, etc.. Each group was tasted and then discussed and selections made.

I am a strong advocate of Canadian wines as my wine career began with Cave Springs, Inniskillin and Peninsula Ridge in Niagara.  

My stand out wines were in no particular order:


Bubbles
13th Street Sparkling Brut 2005 Niagara
I have always enjoyed this bubbly. The flavor is medium bodied with good appley and shortbread flavors. Very good.

Rieslings
Henry of Pelham 2006
Dry with Reisling’s hallmark acidity a perfect match for the train’s smoked salmon appetizer

13th Street Riesling 2007
This one is a charmer. Very Mosel (a classic German region for Riesling) in style, just a whisp of sweetness to balance fresh tangerine and citrus flavors.

Mt. Boucherie Riesling 2007
So different than most other Rieslings tasted. If you like the white form Alsace this is for you. Full rich: like an apple pie in the glass.

Gewurztraminer
Sumac Ridge Gewurztraminer 2007
These is one of the great Canadian values. I have always enjoyed this wine. Pure exotic aromas with loads of complexity all for under $20.

Nichol Gewurztraminer 2007
This wine was new to me but it was a stand out. Gewurztraminer can get as unruly as a teenager but this one shows the charm and exotic elegance of the best of them.

Reserve Whites
This flight was a stand out with some truly world class wines.

Mission Hill SLC Sauvignon Blanc- Semillon
I often refer to wines like this is as "whites for red wine drinkers". Dry with a fresh richness like a perfect Okanagan apple picked right from the tree. The semillon adds a hint of lemon drop aromas and flavors and a pleasant oily texture.

Stratus White 2005
Deep golden in colour and appearing older than it is. Aromas of a bake shop in the morning...mouthwatering. Perfect with wild mushrooms dishes.

Sumac Ridge White Meritage 2007
A similar belend to Mission Hills SLC but a very different outcome. This is the wine that created this style in Canada for most of us. Deliciously with lobster, crab and rich dishes.



Pinot Noir and Syrah
Many of us have been pulling for Pinot Noir in Canada but anyone that know this wiley grape knows that there are never any guarantees with Pinot.

Mt. Boucherie Pinot Noir Summit Reserve 2006.
The star of this flight. Light in colour (if pinot is ever deep in colour maybe the winemaker got mixed up and thought they were topping up the syrah tank). Elegant and refined everything ephemeral that Pinot Noir can be.

Le Vieux Pin Pinot Noir
Evolved nose with very good aromas of oak and woody spice. Good.
***missing from the flight but previously selected was the Norman Hardie Pinot Noir from Prince Edward County and Le Clos Jordanne Grand Clos. Beautiful wines that reveals what a lifetime of Pinot Noir passion can lead to.  

Mission Hill SLC Syrah
So consistantly great. I remind many BC cult wine buyers that the industry would not be where it is without pioneers like the crew at the big winery on the hill. Along with the great flavor I love that this wine is readily available most of the year. A lot of winemakers can make great single barrels, fewer make great wines is quantities that keep wines on shelves. A staple both on the train and at 100Wines.

Reserve Reds
The quality here was very impressive throughout.

Polar Grove Merlot 2005
Wow. This was stunning! Elegant aromas of crushed berries and cedar. Equally delicious taste and obviously a winemaker that lets the wine speak rather than manufacturing flavors.

Le Vieux Pin Epoque 2006
Serious. A good balancing act of fruit and oak with a distinct and very pleasant mocha nose.

Osoyoos Larose 2006
Very Bordeaux. This Osoyoos reminds me of the some of the earlier vintages with memories of good Bordeaux. This bottle is the new vintage and the first bottle in Alberta and when it hits the ground it will not last. Maybe the best wine of the entire tasting for cellaring.

Mission Hill Quatrain 2004
A stand out. This is the newly released (Nov.2008) knockout. Full rich flavors. If you know some of "those people" that doubt Canadian wines, serve this blind and it will blow them away.

Dessert
In additional to a great selection of late harvest and icewines tasted the Domaine Pinnacle line-up of ice ciders from Quebec were stunning. The sparkling iced cider takes 80 apples to produce a 375ml bottle and it dances on your tongue. Also their Crème de Pommes is a treat and will be used in lattes and coffees drink onboard.


**I don’t think this of this as a competiton but a great way to support our hard working industry so there will be a constant casting call for great adddions

Pinot On The Brain

It has been a good week of tasting with several winemakers stopping by our new digs.  I was honored to have my dear friend Catherine Faller from the great Domaine Weinbach stop in for a tasting of their 2005 lineup.  The wines are as remarkably charming as the three wonderful women behind them.  I am planning a tasting of these wines soon so we will keep you posted.  As Friday approached my corkscrew hand was getting twitchy because our friend Terry David Mulligan was in town and planning to visit for a tasting before his acting gig later Friday night. I love tasting with Terry because he shares my affliction for wine and is always game to taste.  As my partner Chris went to retrieve Terry I scrambled to set up our first Blind Canadian Taste Off :EAST vs WEST  “Niagara vs Okanagan”.  The true litmus test for any wine is in the taste...let’s get it on.



Flight #1 Blind “Canada: Niagara vs Okanagan”

1. 2006 Quails’ Gate Stewart Family Reserve Pinot Noir Okanagan BC $45.75
2. 2004 Le Clos Jordanne Le Clos Jordanne Vineyard Pinot Noir Niagara Ontario $49.50

The wines were brown bagged and then pre-poured twenty minutes before Chris and Terry arrived.  I hassled the guys to saddle up to the tasting bar as soon as they arrived.  Terry is immediately shouting out countries and vintages and I don’t think he has even touched his glass yet.  My goal in this tasting is a simple one: To determine which wine is “best”.  Not best in some numerical system or sense of rarity but simply which is more complex, more exciting, a better wine in the glass. I think sometimes people forget wines are meant to be drank. 

So our tasters take to tasting.  Five minutes later I re-ask the question: "Which wine do you prefer?"  With no hestitation both answer number 2.  I pull off the paper bag and reveal  the 2004 Le Clos Jordanne ‘Le Clos Jordanne Vineyard’ Pinot Noir Niagara Ontario.  Terry is frantically pulling money from his pocket to ensure that this news doesn’t get out to his BC homeys as I am sure he would like to return to his home in the Okanagan without being lynched.  We are just getting started.




Flight #2   Blind  “Canada vs France”

3. 2005 Vincent Girardin Bourgogne Cuvee Saint Vincent France $28.50
4. 2004 Michel Gros Nuits St. George 1er Cru Burgundy France $90.00
5. 2004 Le Clos Jordanne Jordanne Vineyard Pinot Noir Niagara Ontario $49.50
6. 2004 Le Clos Jordanne  Le Grande Clos Niagara Ontario $81.50

Now that we are tasting and talking Canadian Pinot Noir we can’t stop there. Our tasters don’t know it but they but they are off to France.

I pour the guys the 2005 Vincent Girardin Burgundy which is a great value and a good benchmark example to use as a reference point for this next flight.  I have placed the winner from round one into the mix.

Again I ask the question of which do they prefer?  

Terry is torn between between #4 and #6.  Chris immediately identifies Michel Gros’s wine, and notices the earthy mushroom character of the Ontario Pinots. There is no clear winner but the Clos Jordanne Grand Clos holds it own.  This flight is intended to be what I call “a fair fight”.  I have selected the wines to demonstrate that the Canadian wines can hold there own with very good Burgundy examples.  I have done this in France repeatedly and the French believe it, or they would not invest in a Pinot project here.  I had a local sommelier recently say he has never had a good Canadian red I guess he doesn’t taste much.    




Flight #3  “French Connection”

Now that we have pitted two acclaimed Canadian Pinot Noirs together in the first flight, then pitted Canada verses France in round #2 , I wanted to present a great bottle of Burgundy with a Canada- France spin.  The wine is the 2002 Domaine de la Vougeriae Gevrey Chambertin Bel Air Premier Cru.  This was made by our good friend and fellow Canuck Pascal Marchand in France at the Boisset families’ top estate.  The Boisset family coincidentally are the French side of the partnership behind the Le Clos Jordanne wines.  

Everyone is enraptured as the wine is warming in our glasses as I just pulled it from the cellar.  Terry can’t keep it in and shouts “I love it”.  

Nicely said.  The aromas are delicate mix of violets and exotic spices... charmingly beautiful.  Another good day at the office.



David

A little taste of Italy.

Producer:  Fratelli Urciuolo

Wine:  Greco di Tufo

Region:  Campania, Italy

It is 12:15 Tuesday following the long weekend.  The three of us here at 100, huddled over the keyboards knocking off the e-mails like some sick computer batting practice that never ends.  Wine makes things better... especially computer things.  I reach into the sub-zero arsenal below me and wait to be moved.  I see the a familiar yellow label.  It has been a little while since I tasted this and I have been meaning to revisit it once the dust settled in the store.  The wine is imported by one of the most gentle and charming people you could imagine, her name is Marina Di Napoli.  It is actually a wine from her cousin’s family estate in Campania Italy, (think the shin of the boot).  The grape is Greco di Tufo. 

The wine hits the glass with a brilliant, limpid, gold hue.  I can smell it’s floral pungent, lilac aromas as it hits the glass. It is like a botanical garden in the glass.  Computer work has just gotten better.  This little gem is pleasantly dry with flavors of buckwheat honey, yellow apples and quince.  This is why we shouldn’t just rely on the common pronounceable varieties like sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. Not only is this Greco di Tufo delicious it is a history lesson of sorts.  Traditional grapes grown by a family that cares as much about every grape  as they do every family member.  You will taste their passion the moment you pull the cork.